Search - Various :: Dim Lights, Thick Smoke & Hillbilly Music: Country & Western Hit Parade 1951

For many years, we'd received requests to do a truly definitive country series, but it wasn't until the success of our year-by-year R&B/Soul series, Blowin' The Fuse (now Sweet Soul Music) that we decided we needed to do something comparable for country music. The first six volumes of Dim Lights, Thick Smoke And Hillbilly Music, took us from 1945 - 1950, and were released in 2008. Now the story continues, and will eventually end in 1970. The series has been compiled with today's fans in mind. Yes, the big hits are there, but so are the classic performances that weren't necessarily big hits at the time, but became influential in the years ahead. Every volume has incredibly detailed behind-the-scenes stories, fabulously rare photos, and an ongoing history of country music set against the backdrop of the broader American music business. The booklets alone are 72 pages! Definitive? You bet!Superlatives are often overplayed - although the many superlatives used in connection with the unrivalled BEAR FAMILY releases over the years are more than well justified - but such words of praise reach new heights with Dim Lights, Thick Smoke And Hillbilly Music which spotlights the Country & Western Hit Parade. We pick up the story in 1951.1951: The hits include Tennessee Ernie's Shotgun Boogie, Hank Snow's Golden Rocket, Hank Williams' Cold, Cold Heart, and Lefty Frizzell's Always Late. Rarities include the Pinetoppers' original version of Mockin' Bird Hill, Bill Haley's Rocket 88, and the Stewart Family's fabulously rare original version of the country and soul hit Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms). 29 songs in all!